Those who spend their days in a certain building on Patricia Bvld. should take note, there are lots of people in this community seeking answers on how money is spent.

Just ask them. I’m sure they will be more than forthcoming. Honesty is the best policy. Right?

“Police say it is the practise of the police to have adequate members when conducting such an eviction to ensure the safety of their officers.”

No intelligence, eh? …. as to what they would be encounter, for example.

Excluding children, a ratio of 5 police to one aboriginal. Then again, maybe the children were the most dangerous ones.

As to wanting to know what the band council spends their money on, people keep saying that no one knows and no one in authority within the feds does anything about it.

Eventually there will be a breaking point for everyone, as lonesome sparrow suggests.

gus: “Excluding children, a ratio of 5 police to one aboriginal. Then again, maybe the children were the most dangerous ones.”

Or maybe they didn’t know how many protesters they were going to be dealing with and whether they might be armed. Just a thought.

It sounds like a reasonable quest, to discover how/where the money is being spent. I will assume that the ‘protestors’ started some time ago by simply asking the questions, were not satisfied with the replies given thus decided to ‘occupy’
As for “more than 50 armed police” betcha no one counted, probably only 25 or so (more than enough)
metalman

over kill!!

I think if you re-read my post JB, I considered that obvious condition.

Now, if I were the RCMP and had 14 days in which to make a decision as to how to handle a possible eviction process, I would have gotten some information about the situation.

Tp me. it shows the poor connection the RCMP has with the community.

What is interesting is when early Asian immigrants blockade a road, railway no action is taken. Now when the band office is taken over by EAI’s with a legitimate compliant, action is taken. It is almost like the government is trying to supress any question about the band finances. Chief being Carol James husband? Just wondering.

Sunday morning ? Burns Lake does not have 50 police officers. This would have been a huge overtime and travel expense……wonder how much this cost the taxpayers to remove the non-taxpayers?

gus: “Tp me. it shows the poor connection the RCMP has with the community.”

Maybe. The way I look at it is if I had a spouse or relative in the force, I would want them to do whatever is necessary to ensure everyone’s safety, even if it’s seen as going overboard.

Like with all of these sorts of situations, it’s easy to use hindsight to determine what the best course of action is/should have been.

Burns Lake? Overtime? Travel expenses? Better be just for coffee and such at Tims on the way back.

Who would bring a 12 yr old to a protest ? Should he not be in school? They are teaching him nothing b saving him there…but did give the media something extra to print.. As for the amount of police , history has shown police being killed at blockades before. It ended peacefully, job done.

Protestors say more than 50 armed police officers

=============================================
perhaps we need some verified facts .. protestors say many things ..

bottom line: no one hurt or killed + protestors get good publicity and get to go home = a good day all around

the government is trying to supress any question about the band finances
============================================
help me out seamutt .. the finances in question are under the jurisdiction of the federal Conservative gov’t and Carole James is connected to the provincial NDP party .. so what is your implied connection? or am I missing something? again ..

Maybe they used the armoured vehicle too.. Welll Supposed to hold 12 officers or something, plus a few Tim’s

gus .. “Excluding children, a ratio of 5 police to one aboriginal”

=============================================

>50 RCMP / (7 protestors – 2 Children)
= >50 / 5
= >10 to 1

;)

“it’s easy to use hindsight to determine what the best course of action is/should have been.”

I am sorry, but this is hindsight for someone from the general public. This sort of thing should not be hindsight for those who I, at least, assume to be professionals in the business of “serving and protecting” the public.

This is part of an SOP wich needs to be practiced several times. I mean, the airport emergency services, fire operations in the city, etc. etc. do such practice exercises so that when the time comes, a little as possible can go wrong.

There may not have been 50 RCMP there. Who knows. Where is the RCMP version of this? Should have been out by now.

Okay, so you caught me before 4pm and trying to get out the door for an appointment …. not as sharp as you “anotherside” … ;-)

One thing that would help in situations like this, where a large part, apparently the majority, of the community is unhappy with the Council, is provision for recall. Some bands with custom election systems have recall, but the Indian Act makes no provision for recall so bands with the standard system, of which Burns Lake Band is one, do not have recourse to recall. Some provisions of the Indian Act can only be changed with some serious thought about how to replace them and consultation, but there are a number of rather obvious and I would think uncontroversial reforms that ought to have been made long ago.

gus: “This is part of an SOP wich needs to be practiced several times. I mean, the airport emergency services, fire operations in the city, etc. etc. do such practice exercises so that when the time comes, a little as possible can go wrong.”

So what went wrong in this case? Anybody get hurt?

This is not the best PR for the RCMP’s capabilities.

Having gone through an era of “sit-ins”, as they used to be called in the mid 1960s to mid 1970s, these kind of “evictions” in Ontario did not need that kind of police presence.

I think the art of negotiation has been lost.

Too little information. So, lot of conjecture as a result.

This is the kind of police we have these days. Unable to protect the public, just protect themselves.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2013/04/08/bc-dziekanski-coroners-report-homocide.html?cmp=rss

Coroner rules Dziekanski death at hands of RCMP a homicide

Former judge Thomas Braidwood conducted a public inquiry into Dziekanski’s death and found the Mounties involved used excessive force.

The officers are each facing perjury charges related to their testimony at the inquiry.

A reader’s comment from the above CBC report.

“This tradgedy was 100% preventable. This is what happens when incompetant people are involved. These officers had no situational awareness at all.”

That is what I am talking about in Burns Lake. It did not go wrong, but that was more by luck than by design.

http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/newsrelease/17034

That report is different.

“On day 14 of a non-violent protest held at the Burns Lake Band office, approximately 50 or more riot police, many with shotguns drawn evicted three adults and one 12 year old child.”

So whose numbers are accurate?

“92 percent of the eligible voters on-reserve had signed a petition in support of the protest despite claims to the contrary by the INAC chief councillor, Albert Gerow.”

So did we know that from the above? No.

So we appear to have a few people willing to put their safety on the line with the written support of those who signed the petition.

“Chief Albert Gerow and Dan George have never responded to any of our attempts to communicate, including formal letters of mediation from our lawyer.”

Dan George …. always had respect for him. I would love to hear his side of the story. But, like all the others in the central and northern communities, he decided to move to southerh climates.

That item was on internet nes sites a8 hours ago but does not seem to have hit the biggies ……. interesting …. the hinterlands … anything goes ..

“The protestors have occupied the Band office on a 24 hour basis , locking out the staff and the council seeking answers as to how the money is spent by the Band.”

Why is this information not given to the protestors? Is the Band accountable to anyone? If it is money provided by the Federal Government of Canada (us) shouldn’t Ottawa have the obligation to audit the Band every year and simply mail a copy of such to each and every member?

Obviously just evicting those protestors is not the solution to the matter. To me it looks as if Ottawa is shirking its responsibilities. Sending in a platoon of armed officers doesn’t solve anything.

Anotherside I will try to help you out. Band members want accountability on band finances which the chief will not provide it seems. Why is there a raid in this seemingly minor instance but blockades on highways and railroads which are not minor are allowed to stand. Just makes me wonder with connections to Carol James, was there connections to end this and such a large response. I did not say anything about the NDP party.

Something just does not smell right with this raid. Did the police ask these people to leave before hand? I believe the police have questions to answer to.

Wonder if they used the “War Wagon”, 1967 John Wayne movie.

There are plenty of reasons why the police went in with the force they had. Forewarned is forearmed. We don’t know what threats were made by the occupiers or what intelligence the police had going in, better to be safe than have this thing blow up on them.
At the same time, when people feel the need to go to this extreme of occupying a band office, there is definitely a disconnect between band council and members of the band.
I would suggest an independent forensic accounting take place to bring some stability and accountability to the band as a whole.

Took possession of the band office 14 days ago. Seems to me that enough time was provided to allow everyone who claims to want self-government time to sort this out.
It didn’t happen, so time for some intervention. I am not going to criticize the number of officers or the tactics used. Somebody has to take charge of the situation and deal with it. And, the RCMP did. End of story.

“And, the RCMP did. End of story.”

It is not the end of the story. The story continues. Why do I say that? Because we live in an open society with people being accountable for their actions.

The police are accountable, in the end, to the citizens.

It may be news to some, but we do not live in a dictatorship quite yet.

If we did live in a dictatorship, my door and that of some others who post on here would have been knocked on a while ago.

At the same time, some of those who post on here would have been doing the knocking.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=149556268547359&set=vb.493604593993843&type=2&theater

Video shot while driving around all four sides of the band facility. We can see, and count if replayed in slow motion, the number of RCMP vehicles as well as number of RCMP guarding the facility.

We are still not living in North Korea ….. that is a good thing for now, I think.

https://www.facebook.com/respectprojectblb

Info is slowly starting to emerge.

Princegeorge, idlenomore, is a cover for chiefs and councils not wanting audits.

gus: “The police are accountable, in the end, to the citizens. “

What are the citizens accountable for?

These are some of the people who were there to help the occupation during the 14 days ….

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=546320465388922&set=a.500995579921411.117895.493604593993843&type=1&theater

Note the glint in the militants’ eyes …..

To ensure we continue to live in a peaceful, democratic, transparent, euitable society.

Sometimes you can be rather ignorant JB

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out–
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out–
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out–
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me–and there was no one left to speak for me.

Martin Niemöller, an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler

Sooner or later somebody always mentions the little Austrian private with the thick black moustache…:-(

So what else is new ??/ The RCMP have always used force on Reserves. When you need them for a crime, they are at Timmy’s enjoying their break. When you have Elders protesting, they come armed to the hilt.

Did this raid get reported by the media? I did not watch the news yesterday.

kudos to 250 for putting this article on.. The Citizen finally has it in today’s paper.
Yesss The RCMP were probably practicing on the Natives.. Trying out their tactical squad on the young and innocent. It’s not uncommon to have youths at protests,.. Shows family unity and what the Elders are doing is for the benefit of the younger generation. It was a peaceful protest till the tactical squad got involved making it look worse than it was. Kinda reminds ya of what happened in Hazelton not long ago. The lawyer the community hired was doing his own thing and the Elders were once again being ignored. The lawyer went got a court order and had all the Elders removed from the building.

Gus: “Sometimes you can be rather ignorant JB”

Why, because I have the temerity to question you?

Yep, just what I thought, RCMP handled the situation, no one got hurt, but, the RCMP haters on this site still complain. The RCMP is NOT out to cause public harm, they are there to protect. Sometimes, they make mistakes, so does everyone, but, on the whole they do a fantastic job.

People on this site would do well with researching what a real corrupt police force is like.

And for the love of God, STOP COMPARING THE SITUATION IN CANADA TO NAZI GERMANY!! There is no genocide here. Everyone gets a vote (even if they don’t pay taxes or follow the rules of society).

Everyone gets a vote (even if they don’t pay taxes or follow the rules of society).

ahahhah Ignorance.. They pay taxes just like you and I. They follow the rules. That Band Office is their property. The people that work in that building are just that… employees..of the people. If it wasn’t for these people, those employees wouldn’t be working there.

Don’t thnk anyone on here hates the RCMP.. Just that they should be using their noggins better than they have been otherwise they wouldn’t be getting this backlash from society. One mistake…sure… Two??? Maybe… but one after another??? This Force needs better training…or better management.

Some of the posters on here should read the story in the Citizen today. It paints a different picture of the events than some are trying to paint here.

This story seems to leave out critical details.